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Socioeconomic aspects of ancient Egyptian private tomb construction A study on New Kingdom tomb volumetrics as economic markers Olsen, Rune Rasmus Publication date: 2018 Document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Document license: CC BY-NC-ND Citation for published version (APA): Olsen, R. R. (2018). Socioeconomic aspects of ancient Egyptian private tomb construction: A study on New Kingdom tomb volumetrics as economic markers. Det Humanistiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet. Download date: 07. okt.. 2021 Socioeconomic aspects of ancient Egyptian private tomb construction A study on New Kingdom tomb volumetrics as economic markers Rune Olsen Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Copenhagen May 2018 Summary In the period from about 1550-1295 BCE, Egypt established itself as the dominant political power of a large geographical area, spanning from the region of modern day Aleppo in Syria in the north to the fourth cataract of the Nile in Sudan in the south. During the same period there was a marked increase in private tomb building in the Theban necropolis near modern day Luxor. The present dissertation investigates the socioeconomic parameters of the private tomb construction based on the volumetric size of individual tombs. By comparing the archaeological data with the ancient Egyptian textual material, which documented the construction process, a new approach for utilising the vast and largely unexplored volumetric data from Egyptian rock-cut tombs in economic studies is suggested. After having described the theoretical background and method for obtaining the archaeological data, the process of tomb construction is explored through two case studies. One is based on a collection of papyri from the 20th Dynasty necropolis of Saqqara, the other on a collection of ostraca from 18th Dynasty Theban necropolis and the rock-cut tombs, the construction of which is described within the ostraca. The case studies are then compared to a statistical analysis of volumetric size of tombs in the Theban and Amarna necropoleis. Here, the titles, pertaining to the ancient Egyptian administration, of certain tomb owners are also analysed to establish their social standing and economic capability. Resumé I perioden fra ca. 1550-1295 BCE etablerede Egypten sig som den dominerende politiske magt i et stort geografisk område, der strakte sig fra regionen omkring den moderne by Aleppo i Syrien i nord til Nilens fjerde katarakt i Sudan i syd. I den samme periode var der en markant stigning i konstruktionen af private grave i den thebanske nekropol ved den moderne by Luxor. Denne afhandling undersøger de socioøkonomiske parametre for privat gravkonstruktion baseret på rumfanget af den enkelte grav. Ved at sammenligne det arkæologiske datasæt med tekstmateriale fra oldtidens Egypten, som dokumenterer konstruktionsprocessen, foreslås en ny tilgang til at anvende den enorme og stort set uudnyttede mængde af rumfangsdata fra egyptiske klippegrave i økonomiske studier. Efter at have beskrevet den teoretiske baggrund og metoden til at opnå det arkæologiske datasæt, bliver processen for gravkonstruktion undersøgt gennem to casestudier. Ét er baseret på en samling af 20. dynastis papyri fra nekropolen i Saqqara, mens det andet er en gruppe ostraka fra den thebanske nekropol og de klippegrave som beskrives i de selv samme tekster. Disse casestudier bliver efterfølgende sammenlignet med en statistisk analyse af rumfanget af grave fra den thebanske nekropol og Amarna. Samtidig bliver visse gravejeres titler relateret til den egyptiske administration også analyseret for at etablere deres sociale rang og økonomiske formåen. I Acknowledgements This thesis could not have been written without the help and support of numerous people. First of all I would like to thank my supervisor, Fredrik Hagen, for giving me the opportunity to pursue my PhD research and for his continued encouragement and constructive feedback on the direction and content of the dissertation. I am very grateful to the Velux Foundations, who very kindly granted the funding for the ‘Tomb Construction in ancient Egypt (c. 1500-1000 BC): Infrastructure and Economy’ project of which my PhD was part. I want to express my immense sense of gratitude to the other two project members, Fredrik Hagen and Daniel Soliman; it has been a privilege working with you. I am greatly indebted to Daniel Soliman, who has been my constant companion through the entire process, offering academic advice, help, encouragement, and feedback, as well as cake, espresso, and beer at numerous occasions; I thank him for everything and for being a true Øbro. The thesis has benefitted immensely from the keen editorial eyes of my dear friend, Seraina Nett, who, in addition to being a language and spell checking wizard, refined the fine art of procrasti-baking to new heights. Similarly, I would like to express my immense gratitude towards Hanne Nymann and Line Eriksen for not only reading and correcting my poorly constructed sentences, but doing so with humour and smiles. I also want to thank my friends and colleagues at ToRS for their help and advice, encouragement and support, and high levels of humour: Jennifer Cromwell, Rana Sérida, Troels Arbøll, Sofie Schiødt, Thomas Christiansen, Luigi Prada, Agnieszka Bystron, and Jes Rasmussen. I would also like to thank the staff and students at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies (ToRS) at the University of Copenhagen for all their help and support. In particular, I thank Ida Christensen, for her beautiful illustrations found within this dissertation, and Sika Pedersen, for the inspiring discussions on the topics of the thesis. I have benefitted immensely from the comments and constructive critique of Hratch Papazian, who was able to support and contextualise my at times ill-formulated ideas. I similarly thank Nicole Brisch and Kim Ryholt for their advice and support over the years beyond the margins of the PhD. I would like to thank my friends for their patience and support, and their understanding for the little attention I have been able to pay them over the last three years, for which I am sorry: Lars, Amanda, Søren, Carina, Glenn, Elisa, Allan, Helle, Hanne, Ann, and Maria. This work would not have been possible without the love and support of my family: Mona & Kai Olsen, Anne Cathrine & Henrik Godtfredsen and their clan of many Meldgaards; Mikkel, Mia, Mathias and Mads. Finally, I am eternally grateful for the love and support from my amazing wife Agnes Tulstrup Henriksen. I could not have done it without you! II Content Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. I Resumé ............................................................................................................................................................... I Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................... II Content ............................................................................................................................................................. III List of figures ................................................................................................................................................... VII List of images .................................................................................................................................................. VIII List of tables .................................................................................................................................................... VIII Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 - Aim and scope of the project ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 - Theoretical background and research history ....................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 - Economic sociology ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.2.2 - New Economic Sociology ................................................................................................................ 6 1.2.3 - Economic Models ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.2.4 - The Ancient Egyptian Economy ...................................................................................................... 8 1.3 - Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 14 1.3.1 - Bluebeam Revu ............................................................................................................................. 15 1.3.2 - The Theban private tombs ........................................................................................................... 18 1.3.3 - Amarna tombs .............................................................................................................................. 21 1.3.4 - Textual material ...........................................................................................................................